Skull Session: Ohio State Fan Denny Hamlin Celebrates a Win in Michigan, Jeremiah Smith Dunks on Jonas Gray and Tyleik Williams Throws Out a First Pitch in Detroit

By Chase Brown on June 9, 2025 at 5:00 am
Denny Hamlin, O-H-I-O celebration
Lon Horwedel-Imagn Images
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Welcome to the Skull Session.

You love to see a BOOM on a Sunday.

And a local BOOM?

You love to see it that much more.

Have a good Monday.

 ATTA BOY, DENNY! I’m no NASCAR fan, but I am a Denny Hamlin fan.

The 44-year-old claimed his 57th career win at Michigan International Speedway on Sunday. Afterward, Hamlin, a self-proclaimed Ohio State fan, celebrated his victory in The State Up North with an O-H-I-O.

On his podcast, Actions Detrimental, in March, Hamlin shared how he became an Ohio State fan. It all started when he went to a game at the Horsehoe during the 2024 regular season. (He later went to the national championship game in Atlanta.)

“I’ll be honest. When you jump on the bandwagon of the best team, it surely makes it easy and fun,” Hamlin said. “To me, the atmosphere (at Ohio Stadium) was the biggest thing I noticed. It was so different. If I go to an NFL game, it’s a Panthers game, and I’m not a Panthers fan. Charlotte fans are suspect at best when it comes to their fandom, so it’s like going to a library compared to when I went to the Shoe. It was unbelievable. The crowd was so freakin’ loud every play. Usually, you get the excitement at the beginning or the end, but it’s every play.

“I’ve mentioned it, but Travis (Hamlin’s producer) hangs his whole life on every play that happens. If it’s 1st-and-10 and they only get 2 yards, he’s losing his mind. He’s like ‘The offensive coordinator!’ or ‘Stupid play!’ It’s so wildly entertaining.”

Hamlin’s O-H-I-O gesture was his second Ohio State-themed celebration this season. After winning his first race of the season in March, he waved an “11 Against the World” flag (his car is No. 11), which paid homage to the Buckeyes’ “Ohio Against the World” mantra. One could consider it Hamlin’s third celebration, however, as he also threw a “Horns Down” sign before his race in Michigan a month ago.

What a legend.

 “YEA OK.” I like Denny Hamlin, but I love Jeremiah Smith.

Over the weekend, Pro Football Focus called Notre Dame cornerback Leonard Moore a future top-10 pick. 

“He finished his true freshman year as the third most valuable cornerback in college football,” PFF’s Max Chadwick said in the video. “A very man-heavy scheme at Notre Dame, and he thrived in it, 82.5 grade in man coverage.” 

Added Dalton Wasserman: “Lights out in press coverage but also an identical 86.5 grade (not identical, but that’s fine) in run defense, so I mean you’re talking about a guy who does it all, who’s lights out in man coverage. You mentioned it, (he) mirrors receivers as well as anybody in the country. You don’t get a whole lot of man coverage corners anymore — the (Patrick) Surtains, the Sauce Gardners, guys like that. This is one of them.”

After watching the PFF video, former Notre Dame and NFL running back Jonas Gray decided to speak from his bosom.

How did Smith respond?

Gosh, I love him.

Talk that talk, King!

 JUSSSSSST A BIT HIGH. Tyleik Williams is an elite defensive tackle. He’s not an elite pitcher.

Before the Detroit Tigers faced the Chicago Cubs on Sunday, the former Ohio State and current Detroit Lions defensive tackle threw out the first pitch, which he sent jusssssst a bit high.

Well, at least he threw it 60 feet, 6 inches!

 “AI IS SUCH A POWERFUL TOOL.” This fall, Ohio State will ask students to use Artificial Intelligence in their classes.

“Through AI fluency, Ohio State students will be ‘bilingual’ — fluent in both their major field of study and the application of AI in that area,” executive vice president and provost Ravi V. Bellamkonda said in a statement.

According to a press release, Ohio State’s AI Fluency Initiative will embed AI education throughout the undergraduate curriculum. The initiative will prioritize incoming freshmen and each student from the 2029 class onward.

Ohio State’s new stance on AI comes soon after the Pew Research Center found that 26 percent of teenagers used ChatGPT for schoolwork in 2024, over double the number the institute reported in 2023. With AI becoming more common in academics, professors like Steven Brown have already integrated AI into their courses.

“A student walked up to me after turning in the first batch of AI-assisted papers and thanked me for such a fun assignment. And then when I graded them, I found a lot of really creative ideas,” the philosophy professor told WSYX’s Katie Millard. “My favorite one is still a paper on karma and the practice of returning shopping carts.”

Ohio State will offer new general education courses incorporating AI, the press release stated. The university will also require students to take an AI skills seminar, incorporating workshops into existing programs, such as its First Year Seminars.

“Artificial intelligence is transforming the way we live, work, teach and learn. In the not-so-distant future, every job in every industry will be impacted in some way by AI,” Ohio State president Ted Carter said in a statement.

Ohio State said this does not mean students will be able to use AI to pass off assignments as their own. To combat that potential issue, the school has over six offices designated to facilitate its generative AI education programs and teach instructors and professors how to have their students maintain academic integrity while using AI as a tool.

Brown said he set clear expectations for how his students should use AI in his classroom. He also encouraged students to have conversations with their classmates about AI ethics.

“It would be a disaster for our students to have no idea how to effectively use one of the most powerful tools that humanity has ever created,” Brown said. “AI is such a powerful tool for self-education that we must rapidly adapt our pedagogy or be left in the dust.”

Look, I agree with Brown, but this also feels like the end of the world as we know it, and I’m… not? … feelin’ fine?

 SONG OF THE DAY. “It’s the End of the World” - R.E.M.

 CUT TO THE CHASE. A runaway pet zebra has been captured in Tennessee… Why a Minneapolis neighborhood sharpens a giant pencil every year… The Colorado Rockies are in danger of breaking the White Sox’s record for most losses in a season… Seattle man charged with string of burglaries targeting homes of NFL, MLB stars… How air-conditioning built our reality.

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